"Can we trust her?" Stark asks seriously, looking me up and down.

"With your life." Hill promises before she and Steve leave the jet to continue their talk. It leaves me behind with the ever suspicious Tony Stark, much to my chagrin.

"So...you and Hill." Tony tries to spark a conversation from across his lab. We're both working on uploading the information obtained from the HYDRA base. Many of his files are corrupted, but few of mine are. I was able to begin my download process before he did, allowing me to obtain more intact files than him. So, being the ever gracious person, I offer to upload what I have onto his mainframe.

"Me and Hill." I quickly remove my drive before Stark gets the idea of planting something on the device he could possibly use to track me in the future.

"How'd that happen?" Stark wanders in my direction, pretending to be interested in the tools on his workbenches.

"Long story. She was in charge of making sure I could kick a man's ass. Look, do you want me to help you with these new enhanced or not? I've got other business I could be looking into right now." I swivel on my chair to face the billionaire. He holds his hands up in surrender before handing me a tablet. "Okay. From the information we've gathered, we know Strucker was utilizing the Scepter...but I'm 100% sure it was NOT for human experimentation." I stand up and move towards where Tony has the weapon hung.

"I agree. There was advanced robotics down in that lab, but what they were looking for —"

"We don't exactly know since they nixed the data and all we could recover was a technical garbled mess..."

"But it points very specifically to artificial intelligence." Stark finishes our collective thought. I nod in agreement as I walk around the Scepter.

"But how? With a Scepter? Loki used it for mind control...we must be missing something. It must have something to do with that." I point at the blue gem encased within the blades. "Maybe you should—"

"Run a scan on it? JARVIS."

"Right away, sir."

"Mmm, nice. Your own personal digital assistant. Don't trust a human assistant, hm?" I narrow one eye before turning my attention back to my tablet. "Anyways. The enhanced. The program Strucker must've used was based on the first clinical trials."

"First clinical trials?"

"Ended up as a disaster. The study was stationed in Russia, imagine that." I roll my eyes with a subtle shake of my head. "They had two factions — subjects and experiments. Experiments were disposable, normal, branded like cattle." I tug up the edge of my shirt to expose my right hip where in bold black lettering rests the tattoo 'E: A17.' "Existed only to test theories. They were the ones that died in fiery, explosive deaths because they couldn't handle the serums giving them abilities. Experiments didn't contain the Mir gene — a very specific genetic abnormality that very few have. It allows a person to physically be able to handle extraordinary abilities - flight, elemental manipulation, portaling, telekinesis...you name it. Subjects had the Mir gene, they were the hopefuls. Nothing ever came to fruition with them either though...until me. They recoded my genes to transplant the Mir gene from an expired Subject. I was chosen for the genetic splicing since my parents already had altered gene structures. They hoped it would make me stronger, hoped I'd be the first success. And I was." Tony and I share a long look before I feel many eyes watching. I turn my head to find the rest of the team standing behind us on the stairs listening to my riveting tale — including Maria. She'd never heard this tale either. Only four people know this story, one of which was Fury. 

"Who are your parents?" Natasha asks skeptically.

"I...don't know. It was never recorded in my file and I didn't get the chance to ask. I'm just an orphan, I guess." And that's the truth. I don't know who my parents are. I don't know anything about them, absolutely nothing, which stings. It's made me question who I am, who I should be. "Anyways, I won't go into any of the really gritty details—"

"You mean there were more disturbing things than human experimentation?" Steve scoffs in disbelief. If only he knew just what we endured in that pit...

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. It was...hell, in the very simplest of terms. Once they had all the data they needed on the trial, they decided to go clean slate. Everyone was scheduled for death row." I shrug one shoulder as I note the horrified expressions. "They came to put a bullet in my brain, but I lost control...I never learned how to actually wield my abilities. Ended up in a panic...which quickly turned to rage. I brought the whole facility down. It went up in flames with all their research." I gaze off into the distance momentarily. "Or, that's what I thought. Strucker must've vacated the building prior to the kill order with some of his own notes and data."

"You were the only one to survive?" Tony approaches wearily.

"Me and another. There was nothing else left. But enough about that — look here." I nod towards the screen. "In Strucker's notes he's renamed it the X gene, but it's the same thing. The twins both have it, according to these notes. Strucker must've been able to recreate the same serum they used on me. He also must've had a copy of my genetic structure. I was the only thing holding their experiments together... But you don't need me here to explain genetics or brain scans. You and Dr. Banner are the two smartest people on the planet. Anyways, now you know the process, know how these two can do what they can."

"What about you?" Steve asks from behind me. "What can you do?"

"Energy manipulation. Anything that produces energy, light, fire, radiation...I can manipulate it. I'm also a self-creating energy producer...I guess it's kinda like photosynthesis? Only with energy. Anyways. I've flagged anything and everything that has to do with the twins or Strucker's experimentation and placed it in this file here." I offer Stark the tablet, which he takes and begins to scroll through. "I guess I can leave you and Dr. Banner to your research." I offer the brains behind Hulk a tense smile as I head towards the crowd near the exit.

"Hey, kid?" I spin around.

"Party. Saturday night. Dress nice, don't be late." Before I can decline the request, Maria swings an arm around my shoulders and leads me out of the lab. The rest of the group fan out behind us before heading their separate ways.

"You have to come, Iris, I won't take no for an answer. You don't just skip out on a Stark party." I give the ex-SHIELD agent a look that says 'bet.'

"Mmm...the flaw in that plan is that a) I don't have nice clothes, b) where am I going to stay for 3 days, and c) I have someone I need to hunt down."

"Don't worry about the first two, I'll have someone set you something up here in the Tower." Tony says as he brushes by unexpectedly. I point at him, the lab, back to him.

"I'd try not to overthink it, Iris. He just seems to always be appearing." Maria laughs.

"He's gonna want something, isn't he?" I whisper suspiciously. Maria mirrors my motions and draws closer.

"I think they're all going to want something." She says in my ear. "Your help." I pull away with a skeptical expression. "You already know more about these enhanced, about how they work, maybe how they think...you're enhanced yourself. Iris, you may be their best shot if it comes to facing them again. Or at least having you around will give Tony some ideas for new tech. He's like a kid in a candy store whenever there's something new to investigate."

"Maria...you don't have to sell it to me. He's offering me shelter for 3 days, I'm gonna take it. I'm just also going to be running down a lead of my own while I'm here." This seems to brighten her mood. I hold up one finger. "But I cannot promise that I'll be able to help Tony, or that I'm going on a witch hunt. As an enhanced myself, I know how it feels to be hunted."

"Alright, say no more. So, where's this lead going to be taking you?"

"Jersey. But uh...more on that later. I'm sure you've got something you need to do right? Right. Excuse me." I slip from under her arm so I can chase down Captain America, who's headed for the elevator. "Uhh...Cap? Er, Mr. Rogers? Yeah, what should I call you? America's Collective Wet Dream?"

"Steve." He offers me a timid smile.

"Great, okay, uh, Steve...um do you have a second? I think I have some sensitive information you might wanna hear. It's about your best friend."

"Sam?"

"O-oh, no...um, Bucky-" Before I can even finish that sentence, my arm is encircled by Rogers' hand as he quickly guides me into the elevator. I wait until the doors shut and Cap turns to face me. "Right, uh, Bucky. Umm...he was there. In Russia before the accident. I don't know the exact date, but he was there. Under HYDRA control. They forced me to fight with him...there was something...weird though."

"Weird how?"

"Whenever he fought, he always fought to kill. In the end, he had the perfect chance to put me down for good...but there was something akin to realization in his eyes right before I lost consciousness. He never once hesitated before. Never. Then when I came to afterward, he'd been relocated. The next time I saw him he was vacant and distant again. I heard whispers that they were brainwashing him. I think he's been fighting, back then, and even now. And yes...I know about the whole DC SHIELD fiasco and his role." I can't exactly read Steve's face, but he's tense and teetering somewhere between panic and relief. "Steve, I think that you could pull him out of his own mind...if you know what I mean."

"You can't say anything to the others about this."

"I promise. I know what he must mean to you. I have my own Bucky I'm looking for now. But uh, I may have a more recent lead for your missing person." I pull out a scrap of paper I snatched from Tony's lab and scribbled on. I fold it over and hand it to Steve. "I might've spotted him in DC. It may not be anything, but it may be. I thought I should at least give it to you, but please don't get your hopes up."

"Vanessa?"

"Pft, please call me Iris."

"Right. Iris?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Absolutely. I know how you're feeling. Um, if I find anything else, I'll let you know. If you have any more questions...let's talk, okay?" Steve offers me the first genuine smile yet. We stand in silence for a moment before he slowly turns his torso to me, mouth frozen open. I motion for him to go ahead.

"How...how do you talk about the trauma in your life so easily like that?"

"I came to terms with it years ago. It was a long process, a long road to acceptance that this is who I am now. By no means was it easy, but I pushed through. Don't get me wrong, I still suffer from nightmares, day scares, flashes of anxiety, the effects of PTSD...but I'm managing it now." My answer seems to satisfy Steve for now. As we reach his destination, I hold the elevator doors open a moment longer. "Um, Steve? I know you don't know me well at all, and we're not considered friends, but I do want to try and help."

"Iris, any person that can befriend Maria is a friend to all of us. To me." I can't help but smile at his words.

"Thanks, Steve. Be careful." I warn before heading back up to the penthouse area to put together my own game plan.

Now it's time for me to find my Bucky.